"Marshall wrote some impassioned dissents in the early affirmative action cases (e.g. Croson) but they weren't personal like this one," said Adam Winkler, a law professor at UCLA. "Never before have two justices sparred so personally over race. Justices have sharply disagreed about affirmative action, but we've never seen such personal disagreement."

"Today's opinion could spark a new series of battles over affirmative action," Adam Winkler, constitutional law professor at UCLA and author of the book Gunfight on Second Amendment battles, told the Daily News by email. He said opponents of affirmative action will likely now be "emboldened" to push for state-level bans not just in college admissions but public contracting and hiring.